"The Salem Witch Trials", Heavily Citing Examples From "The Crucible".

979 words - 4 pages

The Salem Witch Trials began in the winter of 1692, taking place in Salem Village, and didn't end until nearly a year afterwards. However, turmoil had been present long before any accusations of witchcraft arose. Much of the trouble is believed to have started with the hiring and preaching of Reverend Samuel Parris. Reverend Parris was hired to preach to a separatists group led by the Putnam family. The Putnam's and their small group of supporters were those in favor of separating Salem Village from Salem Town. These separatists felt Salem Town was no longer an asset to them, since its economy mainly thrived on profitable harbors, and Salem Town was a more agriculturally geared area. Those who supported the alliance between Salem Town and Salem Village soon began to voice their opposition to the hiring of Parris, because of his unusually high salary and several other perks such as free firewood, a new house, and ownership of the land around it. Reverend Parris continued to preach, despite the poor attendance of his services.Reverend Parris was a married man that lived with his nine year old daughter named Betty, his twelve year old niece named Abigail Williams, who was an orphan, and an African American slave named Tituba. Abigail is most commonly attributed with starting the mass hysteria that led to the witch-hunts and witch trials. It started when young Betty fell ill one day and refused to move or speak. Reverend Parris immediately confronted Abigail, who later admitted she and Betty had been practicing casting spells in the woods. Reverend Parris was outraged, and asked the girls who was responsible for teaching them witchcraft. The girls soon put the blame on Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osbourne, all of whom denied the charges at first.Reverend Parris had been aware for some time that Tituba practiced a religion that originated in Barbados, which only fed speculation that she had tried to curse the young girls into being servants of the Devil. Sarah Good on the other hand was an outcast that frequently roamed the village late at night, chanting to herself. People began to suspect those chants were spells being cast upon those who treated her cruelly. The last of the three accused women was Sarah Osbourne, an elderly woman who kept to herself and rarely attended church services. This was a sin by Puritan standards, and Reverend Parris was quick to condemn them all as witches. But it was not the Reverends place to decide who was lying, and who was telling the truth.Salem Village put the three women on trial, and relentlessly questioned them. During the trial, Abigail, Betty, and a group of six other girls would often burst out screaming in the courtroom, claiming they were being tortured by the accused. This outlandish behavior only increased animosity towards the accused women. Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne maintained their innocence, but Tituba ended up...

Find Another Essay On "The Salem Witch Trials", heavily citing examples from "The Crucible".

2247 words - 9 pages
center of trade with London. The people of Salem Village were normally poor farmers who earned money nurturing their crops. Salem Town desperately wanted independence from Salem Village, it was not possible since the town was very dependent on Salem Village because they offered food, crop prices and the town also collected taxes from the village (Salem Witch Trials Economic and Social Divisions).
The Salem Village also had a bit of division within

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name, so they went along with what they felt would be accepted. When concerning the Witch Trials, people often rallied together and scolded those accused of compacting with the devil. I believe people simply put on a show to cover up their faults, and keep away from getting put on trial for things that may differentiate them from others of the community during the Salem Witch Trials.
Works Cited
Charles Brady, P. R. (2008). Document Based Questions in American History. In T. D. project, What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 (pp. 1-14). Evanston, Illinois: The DBQ project.
Miller, A. (1976). The Crucible. New York, New York: Penguin Group.

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terrible mistakes back in the 1690's. All of the events that took place in Salem are examples of how our legal system reacted from fear and panic rather than from solid evidence. As the fear escalated, innocent individuals
were persecuted, abused, and finally killed because they stood up for what they
believed in, and refused to go against God and "lie". The Salem Witch Trials should be a sobering reminder to us of how fear can ultimately affect the concept and function of justice within the world.

2003 words - 8 pages
individualism. According to traditional Puritans, any behavior that they consider strange or different from typical Puritan behavior could be the result of witchcraft and the Devil's influence in a person. Salem was vulnerable to this mass hysteria because it had experienced witchcraft on a small scale just a few years before the actual Salem Witch Trials. A laundress by the name of Goody Glover was believed to have afflicted Martha Goodwin with

1961 words - 8 pages
In 1692 everyone was sure that the Devil had come to Salem when young girls started screaming, barking like dogs and doing strange dances in the woods. The Salem Witch Trials originated in the home of Salem's reverend Samuel Parris, who had a slave from the Caribbean named Tibuta. Tibuta would tell stories about witchcraft back from her home. In early 1692 several of Salem's teenage girls began gathering in the kitchen with Tibuta. When

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become much worse during the trials. It was believed that his presence was everywhere in the town, and people were afraid that they would have an encounter with him and be killed. The panic caused for the Salem witch trials to become out of control.
Eventually, the Salem witch trials ended. Spectral evidence was outlawed; executions stopped; people were released from prison. Talk of witchcraft quieted down, and the town went back about its

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they were dealing with the after-effects of the British war which occurred in France, a smallpox outbreak took place, and they feared attacks from a neighboring Native American Tribe. All these events led up to people having suspicions about their neighbors and the fears of anyone who was an outsider.
On January 1692 the events of the Salem Witch Trials began in Salem, Massachusetts when Elizabeth (Betty) Parris age nine and Abigail Williams age

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issue.
Overall this book was very informative on the entire Salem Witch Trial story from the initial causes, to proceedings and how the people handled the situation. Starkey’s use of quotes from actual proceedings was very useful. The trials will forever be a part of United States history that people will remember for years to come as some of the darker, more trying times.
Works Cited
Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern

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more than 250 years ago.
During the 20th century, scientist and artist continued to be captivated by the Salem witch trials. Plus, numerous theories have been created to explain the strange behavior that these young girls portrayed in Salem in 1692. One of the most individual studies, printed in Science, in 1976, by psychologist, Linnda Caporael, blamed the weird habits of the bewitched girls on the fungus, ergot. This type of fungus can be found

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government had taken away from them. The government also wrote up a sincere apology for their mistake in proceeding with the trials when there was no solid evidence and for possibly executing innocent people.(See Appendix 1A)
As time passed many people wondered what was the purpose of the Salem Witchcraft Trials? Why were so many innocent people jailed or even killed? How could anyone have hanged their neighbor for being a witch? People pondered on

1537 words - 7 pages
During the seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts is a seaport town populated mostly by Puritan colonists who came over from England in the seventeenth century. Beliefs of witchcraft came over with the settlers who, if caught practicing, was punishable by death. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of court cases in 1692 revolving around witchcraft where over hundred people were accused, nineteen were hanged, and one was pressed to

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